Carrier-Grade Linux Upgrade Gets Support From Distributors

The Open Source Development Lab has received support from a number of Linux distributors for the latest version of its Carrier-Grade Linux, a standard introduced a year ago to improve the operating system's appeal to the telecommunications market. Miracle Linux, MontaVista Software, SuSE Linux, and Turbolinux say they'll support CGL version 2, which provides these companies and other Linux distributors with guidelines for improving Linux's clustering, high availability, and security features.

CGL 2.0's clustering features are expected to help makers of telecommunications equipment and service providers offer early fault detection, failure confinement, fault localization, and failure notification as well as logical model descriptions for distributed data access. Equipment makers Alcatel, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, Fujitsu, NEC, and Nokia all played a role in defining the features they wanted included in version 2. On the security side, the version includes requirements for minimized performance degradation and availability of Quality of Protection options.

CGL includes guidance for including communications protocols that are particularly useful to makers of telecommunications equipment, says Mika Kukkonen, road map coordinator for the development lab's CGL working group. CGL isn't a different form of Linux. Instead, it's used by Linux distributors to create versions of Linux optimized for use by telecommunications equipment makers and service providers. The telecom industry has been investigating different ways of using Linux. "Instead of doing this alone, why not join forces and do this once right?" Kukkonen says.

Operating systems have been a cost center for telecom equipment makers. CGL "helps them lower the cost of their equipment," Kukkonen says. "We're trying to make it easier for them to sell and implement Linux."

CGL version 3.0 is targeted for late 2004 or mid-2005.